Cameron Norrie, who won the Miami Open in 2021, was beaten by France's Gregoire Barrere in straight sets to suffer a shock defeat in the second round; Dan Evans has now lost six matches in a row after losing to Italian Lorenzo Sonego
Sunday 26 March 2023 08:18, UK
Cameron Norrie suffered a shock defeat in the second round of the Miami Open when he was beaten in straight sets by France's Gregoire Barrere.
The British No 1 has enjoyed his visits to Miami in recent years, with the 27-year-old winning the title in 2021 and reaching the quarter-finals last year.
But he was dominated by Barrere on Saturday, with the world No 65 securing a 6-3 6-2 victory in an hour and 10 minutes.
After trading early holds, Barrere was able to strike first by breaking Norrie's serve in the eighth game and the Briton could only offer mild resistance, with the Frenchman cruising home to set up a third-round meeting with Christopher Eubanks.
The American qualifier recorded the biggest win of his career so far as the world No 119 knocked out 17th-seeded Croatian Borna Coric 3-6 6-4 6-2.
Meanwhile, British No 2 Dan Evans saw his losing streak extend to six matches after Italian Lorenzo Sonego came from behind to win 4-6 6-3 6-2 in two-and-a-half hours.
Evans had started brightly, securing an early break in the first game and then held to lead 2-0 before closing out the first set.
However, the Italian world No 59 rallied to break Evans in the fourth game of the second set before maintaining a vital hold in the next game which allowed him to level the match.
The momentum remained with the Italian, who broke twice in the deciding set as he opened up a 4-0 lead and never looked like allowing Evans back into the match.
Jiri Lehecka continued his impressive form to reach the third round of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time.
The 21-year-old Czech, a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open, beat 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-4.
Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a walkover into round three after Frenchman Richard Gasquet was forced to withdraw because of an ankle injury.
Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev sailed through in straight sets, beating Spain's Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour.
Fifth seed Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada beat Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (10-8) and will next play Francisco Cerundolo, who was a 6-4 6-4 winner over American Aleksandar Kovacevic.
Home favourite Mackenzie McDonald pulled off an upset as he defeated 19th seed Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-5), while eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland beat Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (9-7) in a gruelling three-and-a-half-hour affair.
Karen Khachanov, the 14th seed, held off a brave effort from Tomas Martin Etcheverry to claim a 6-1 3-6 6-3 victory.
No 15 seed Alex de Minaur suffered an unexpected defeat to French debutant Quentin Halys, who progressed through a marathon three-hour, 18-minute match 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-8).
Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin also advanced to the third round with a 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 win over Argentina's Sebastian Baez and will go on to face Tsitsipas.
Adrian Mannarino defeated Ben Shelton in three sets, while 12th seed Frances Tiafoe came back from a set down to beat Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.
